I have a WebCam (Am i safe)

“I got a new flashy webcam”. “Hey that is not great I have a laptop with an integrated webcam isn’t that cool”. These are a few things you get to hear these days with kids on the block. I am sure some parents, just to make there kids happy get them all they want but really have no clue what that stuff does or how it works.

Now the kids know how to use it but do not know how stuff works. I am not here to tell that kids these days don’t know how stuff works but most of them just know how to use all the stuff that is available in the market.

Now let us get to the point. I have a webcam/camera that can be connected to my computer and I can show my pictures live or cached to the beautiful world out there. Now I know I said I can show, well what if someone wants to see me? He/She needs to ask me for my permission to see my live feed from the cam. But can access whatever I have hosted on some site, say a recorded video on may webpage. Sounds good doesn’t it.

I know all out here, if not all most of them use some or the other chat services that is out there (Yahoo, MSN, Etc, etc.). Most of the chat services provide us with the feature of video conferencing and we love to see people when we talk. How would you feel if you were seen even without you knowing about it? I know you are feeling uneasy about that thought. I too did feel the same when I thought about it.

There are claims that the software with the name sneak a peek (sap) can view webcams without the user knowing it, of users who use yahoo messenger. I have never tried this software as of now and I don’t intend to try it. I have also read on the Wild Wild World out there that it is a scam to make money and it does not work. (I do not know whom to believe now)

There are two software’s that claim to do that but the one that most people come across is the one that just is going to make you anonymous when viewing someone’s cam on yahoo messenger (You still need to get permission from the user to view the cam). But on the other had the software that I am talking about claims to let you view the cam with out the users knowledge. Below are some images from the site of the software.

Kids and parents out there need to be careful what you use. There are people who get a high out of seeing people in there most private of places. As most of the people are connected to the net (WWW) most of the time and they have there messengers running by default on the system, some one could just assess the webcam and see you when you don’t intend anyone to see you.

Parents on the other hand make sure that you have a proper security (Information security) in place for the computers that you or your kids use. Do not think that it is a home computer and no one would want to access that.

Make sure you understand what a personal firewall is and how to configure it.
Make sure you know what the ISP (Internet service provider) protects you from and were to report any abuse
Make sure you educate yourself and your children on how stuff works and what people do out there in the Wild Wild World
Make sure you have the latest patches/software on your system so that someone does not break into your system and access it.

Conclusion:
I am not saying do not use the webcam, nor am I saying that you have been seen by people without your permission. But saying be careful while using the gadgets that are available out there. We never know what new gadgets do other than making our life more interesting and fun.